FRENCH INFANTRY AND GUARDS (THIRTY YEARS WAR)

The French infantry in the 17th century underwent a significant evolution and significant changes. Above all, it entered this century with a baggage of experiences from the period of French religious wars (1562-1598), and the first great conflict of the 17th century in which it had to take part was the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), into which France entered only in 1635 year. At that time, the French infantry consisted primarily of pikemen and musketeers, and although it was capable of winning great battles (for example at Rocroi in 1643) it was certainly far from perfect. It came close to it during the long reign of Louis XIV, known as the Sun-King, who reigned independently in the years 1661-1715. First of all, during his reign, the army grew in numbers (from 120,000 people in 1672 to 280,000 in 1678), but also its living conditions and logistics were significantly improved. The infantry then began to receive flintlock rifles, and pikemen disappeared from the battlefields (and finally in the French army in 1703) as a result of the use of a bayonet - initially a bolt-type bayonet, and later a sleeve one. At the end of the 17th century, the basic organizational unit of the French infantry was a regiment, which was divided into battalions - from 1 to 4 within the regiment. The number of companies in a battalion, initially reaching 20, eventually settled in the French army at the level of 13 - one grenadier company and 12 musketeer companies. It is worth adding that a single campaign consisted of about 50 people. It is worth adding that the French infantry of the seventeenth century consisted of regiments recruited from native French, as well as the so-called foreign regiments made up of representatives of a given nation, e.g. Swiss or Irish.